Bumper structure



Jan. 21, 1941.

H. S. JANDUS BUMPER STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 1, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet l Jan.21, 1941. I 5 JANDUS 2,229,505

BUMPER STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 1, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 hiZ/EHZUF PatentedJan. 21, 1941 r 2,229,505

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUMPER STRUCTURE Herbert S. Jandus,Detroit, Mich, assignor to Houdaille-Hershey Corporation, Detroit, Mich,acorporation of Michigan Application September 1, 1939, Serial No.292,968

4 Claims. (01. 29355) This invention relates to bumper structure forjunctures of the end impact portions and the automobiles, the objectbeing to provide an immiddle bar's. proved bumper assembly foradequately protect- Referring to Figures 1 to 3, each end impact ing thevehicle against bumps and particularly to portion at its inner lowercorner has a longitudi- 5 afford adequate protection against bumps whichnally extending portion deflected rearwardly and 5 might result ininjury to the radiator grille and upwardly to provide a horizontallyextending the radiator. ledge or shelf H to which the corresponding endThe invention relates particularly to that type of a m ddle impact barI0 is secured- The middle of bumper structure in which bumper endporimpact bar shown is of channel shape, the end of tions are ofsubstantial vertical width, and are s upper leg I2 b in ur inst t e ndr- 10 connected by middle bumper bars arranged to side of the supports Has by bolts I3. Instead of protect the radiator grille withoutinterfering using bolts, the securing could be by means of with adequateand proper air flow to the radiator. rivets y eans of Welding, and theend im- An important feature of the invention resides p p o s A d B a tmiddle p t in improved arrangement for securing middle im- Will t s erigidly e ed together to f a 15 pact bars to the bumper end impactportions. continuous'impact bar structure extending trans- A furtherfeature of the invention resides in r ely of he aut mo ile- Th s pp r isimplified structure and arrangement whereby Shelves l I y e o S cheight t t jo guard members may be readily mounted on th portion of thebar 10 will be below the level of end impact portions to affordprotection for the e w r edges of the end impact portions, and 20vehicle fender nd lamps, the front wall or yoke M of the bar may beflexed Another important feature resides in the ard al y to p es t aSubs nti l y CO VeX rangement of the bumper assembly supports for Outeras S o on ure supporting it on the vehicle, the arrangement Where theimpact bar Structure o s part of being such that more resistance will beassured a front bumper On an IB, the g p 25 against blows along themiddle portion of the astween e inner ends of t end im a t po tionssembly to stiffen and strengthen it against rear- A d B will be in fromo e rad ator and the ard displacement which might cause engageradiatorgrille, and as the middle impact bar 10 ment thereof with the radiatorgrille and injury i of comparatively Small al e t, it Will t th grilleor radiator, not interfere with the free passage of air to the 30 Thevarious features of my invention are inradiator for P D ol n purposes.The midcorporated in the structure disclosed on the draw- (119 being ofchannel Shape W ll resist ings, in which drawings: bending under impactby bumpers of other cars. Figure 1 is a plan View f the bumperstructure; In order .to strengthen the resistance against Figure 2 is anenlarged front elevation; bodily rearward movement of the impact bar 35Figure 3 is a section on plane III III Figure 2; structure under impact,and so protect the radi- Figure 4 is a front elevation of the middlepart ator t I use impmved Supporting of the bumper structure showing amodified arfor the Impact f assembly. Refining to it ttantra?tantra;5

. "v e ac arcomio 40 F gu1eS and 6.3118 perspective views showing prisesa comparatively Shem portion '5 for other mQdlfied langementsceivingclamping or other securing structure, such The Structure shown comprfsesthe end as bolts, for securing the bar to the vehicle i pact DOIHOYIS Aand B, h mldd'le chassis. From the inner end of this supportingtervenlng Structure The end i pact portions portion iii of the bar, theS-shaped portion l6 exare in the form of steel plates curved or bowedtends forwardly with its front end l6 extending longitudinally, andtransversely curved to present laterally inwardly and provided with abolt h-ole substantially convex front faces. I! for receiving a bolt l8which extends through The middle impact structure comprises one or abolt hole l9 adjacent to the inner end of the more bars l8 extendingbetween and secured at respective end impact portion of the impact as-50 their ends to the inner end of the end portions A sembly for securingthis end to the end of the and B. Figures 1 to 3 show one such middlebar supporting bar. The outer end 20 of the supand the inventioncomprises improved means for porting bar H extending from the supportingporsecuring the middle bar to the end impact portion l5 thereof inclinesforwardly and at its end tions. Vertical guards G may be attached at theis secured to the outer end of the respective end 5 impact portion ofthe impact assembly, as by a bolt 2i. The inner-S-shaped portions of thesupporting bars H form comparatively stiff springs which will resistbodily inward shift of the impact bar assembly under impact so thatunder ordinary bumps or blows the impact bar assembly cannot be forcedrearwardly sufficiently for hitting the radiator grille structure. Thecomparatively long outer ends 20 of the supporting bar structures 1-1will be more yielding to bumps against the outer portion of the impactbar assembly.

Where vertical guard structures Gare added to the bumper assembly, theyare preferably applied at the inner ends of the end impact portions Aand B. The guard elements shown are of channel shape with their rearedges recessed to fit the convex front face curvature of the end impactportions A and B, and preferably lateral flanges 22 and 23 are providedparalleling the recessed edges and to increase the contact or seatingarea of the guards with the impact portions A and B. The vertical guardsmay be secured in any suitable manner. Asshown, the bolts it may be ofsufiicient length to include the guards so that the guards and the innerends of the end impact portions are rigidly secured to the front ends ofthe S-shaped portions of the supporting bars H.

The lower ends of the guard G may be shaped to seat against the inclinedupper portion of the middle impact bar l 0, and the inner flanges 23 ofthe guards may be extended rearwardly to provide side walls 24 coveringor shielding the inner ends of the end impact portions A and B. Theouter ends it of the bar l may be tapered to fit against the taperedback walls I I of the deflected support portions H. A neat appearance isthus provided and sharp corners are '2 eliminated.

It will be noted that the guards G are in front of and substantially inalignment with the S- shaped spring portions iii of the supporting barsH and these comparatively stiff spring portions will resist rearwardmovement of the bumper impact structure and the guards so as to preventcontact thereby with the radiator grille structure, under heavy impactblows.

Auxiliary vertical guard structures I may be provided at the outer endsof the end impact portions A and B, for protecting the fenders and lampsof the vehicle. These auxiliary guard structures may be convenientlymounted on horizontally extending supporting shelves 25 formeddeflecting portions of the bars A and B rearwardly. The auxiliary guardsmay be secured to the supporting shelves in, any suitable manner, as bybolts or rivets 25, or may be spot welded in place. The auxiliary guardsmay be any suitable design and may be in the form of castings or formedof sheet metal.

Figure 4 shows an upper middle bar 21 between the ends of the end impactportions A and B. This bar 2'? may be similar to the bar 10 of Figures 1to 3, and for support of the bar 21 the upper inner corner portions ofthe bars A and B may be deflected downwardly and rearwardly to providethe horizontally extending supporting shelves 28 to which the bar 21will be secured by welding, riveting, or, as shown, by bolts 29. Thisadded, upper middle bar, will increase the strength of the middleportion of the impact structure but will leave this structure open forthe free passage of air to the radiator. With this additional upper bar,the vertical guards G, if

applied, would be shaped to fit the front curvature or profile of thebars.

Instead of securing the auxiliary or upper middle bar directly to theends of the impact bar portions A and B, such auxiliary middle barstructure could be secured to and supported by the guard structures G.Figure 5 shows an auxiliary upper middle bar structure 30 secured to andextending between the tops of the vertical guards G, while Figure 6shows a number of vertically spaced bars 3| secured to and extendingbetween the inner side walls of the guards G,

and; with the bars 3| arranged edgewise for minimum resistance to airflow to the radiator. In the various modified arrangements, the lowermiddle bar (8 rigidly secured to the end impact portions A and B formswith such portions a continuous impact bar structure, and additionalauxiliary middle bar structure, or vertical guards, or guard andauxiliary middle bar assemblies may be provided as desired. As beforeexplained, the structure between the inner ends of the end impactportions A and B protects the grille and radiator structure withoutmaterially interfering with the air flow to the radiator, and thecomparatively stiff spring portions l6 of the supporting bar structuresH will permit rearward give of the impact structure but will resistexcessive rearward movement thereof for preventing contact with thegrille structure and mutilation thereof under heavy impact blows.

-I have shown practical and efiicient embodimerits of the variousfeatures of my invention but I do not desire to be limited to the exactconstruction and arrangement shown and described, as changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention.

I claim as follows:

1. An automobile bumper structure comprising two end impact barshorizontally aligned and spaced apart at their inner ends and beingdisposed in substantially vertical planes, 9. longitudinally extendingportion adjacent the lower edge of each bar at the inner end thereofbeing deflected to form a horizontal seat, a middle bar extendinghorizontally between the inner ends of said end impact bars and securedat its ends against the undersides of said seats, vertical guard membersseating on the ends of said middle bar and secured against the frontfaces of said end bars at the inner ends thereof, a longitudinallyextending portion along the upper edge of each end impact bar andadjacent to the outer end thereof being deflected rearwardly to providea horizontal seat, and other vertically extending guards mounted on saidend seats.

2. An impact bar assembly for automobile bumpers comprising horizontallyextending end portions each in the form of a single plate comparativelywide vertically, each plate having at its lower inner corner a portionthereof of comparatively short longitudinal extent deflected rearwardlyand upwardly to provide a flat horizontal supporting shelf, and a middlebar of channel shape extending horizontally between the inner ends ofsaid plates with its yoke in a vertical plane and with its upper flangeat its ends engaging against the under sides of said supporting shelves,and means for rigidly securing said middle bar upper flanges to saidshelves whereby said end plates and said middle bar will form a rigidimpact bar structure.

3. An impact bar assembly for automobile bumpers comprising horizontallyextending end portions each in the form of a single plate comparativelywide vertically, each plate having at its lower inner corner a portionthereof of comparatively short longitudinal extent deflected rearwardlyand upwardly to provide a flat horizontal supporting shelf, and a middlebar of channel shape extending horizontally between the inner ends ofsaid plates with its yoke in a vertical plane and with its upper flangeat its ends engaging against the under sides of said supporting shelves,and means for rigidly securing said middle bar upper flanges to saidshelves whereby said end plates and said middle bar will form a rigidimpact bar structure, and vertical guard members seating against saidmiddle bar and the front faces of said end plates at the inner endsthereof and secured to said end plates. i

4. An impact bar assembly for automobile bumpers comprising horizontallyextending end portions each in the form of a single plate comparativelywide vertically, each plate having at its lower inner corner a portionthereof of comparatively short longitudinal extent deflected rearwardlyand upwardly to provide a flat horizontal supporting shelf, and a middlebar of channel shape extending horizontally between the inner ends ofsaid plates with its yoke in a vertical plane and with its upper flangeat its ends engaging against the under sides of said supporting shelves,and means for rigidly securing said middle bar upper flanges to saidshelves whereby said end plates and said middle bar will form a rigidimpact bar structure, and vertical guard members seating against saidmiddle bar and the front faces of said end plates at the inner endsthereof and secured to said end plates, said vertical guard membershaving flanges on their inner sides projecting along the inner ends ofsaid end plates to form covers therefor.

HERBERT S. JANDUS.

